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However, the quality of the service will be heavily dependent on you having a fast broadband connection. And while some telecoms firms offer to give you a free box, you will probably have to lock into a lengthy internet contract to get the deal.

Last week, the Daily Mail explained how the technology works. This week, Money Mail asks if the new service — due to launch in a fortnight — is worth the money and how it compares to rivals Sky and Virgin Media.

HOW MUCH DO DEALS COST?

The box will cost £299 upfront from a range of high street shops and can then be simply used with your existing set-up. (Also, Amazon are selling the technology for £240.90, a big discount on the high street - so it's always worth checking online.)

Depending on the deal you already have, your home broadband provider may offer the box free if you sign up for a minimum contract.

But there are extra charges to watch out for — so double-check with your provider.
BT and TalkTalk are giving customers a free box, as long as they sign up to a minimum 12 or 18-month broadband contract.
BT is offering the YouView box free — with a £49 activation fee and £6.95 delivery charge — to its 700,000 superfast broadband Infinity customers.

However, these customers must be out of the minimum term of their Vision contract (BT’s previous set-top box service) to get the deal. It includes a subscription to the new Essentials TV package, which will cost new customers £4 a month.

YouView: The box will cost £299 upfront and can then be simply used with your existing set-up

Meanwhile, new customers signing up to BT’s Infinity deal — which costs £27.60 a month — get the box for no charge. Activation and delivery charges still apply.
If you don’t live in an area that can get BT Infinity, you can still get the deal via BT broadband — as long as you have internet speeds of 3MB or more — and you must also sign up to BT Vision for a minimum of 12 months.

The package is available to customers from October 26, but if they sign up via the BT website, they can place an early order.
Meanwhile, TalkTalk Plus customers are also being given the option to get a free box. But they will have to stump up a £50 activation fee and sign up for 18 months.

The TalkTalk service launched earlier this month, with customers already able to request installations.
New customers must sign up to TalkTalk Plus, costing £24 a month — £14.50 broadband and home phone plus £9.50 line rental — but this includes unlimited downloads and unlimited anytime calls to UK landlines. They also have to pay a £50 activation fee and new or old phone lines are subject to a £20 connection fee.

YouView TalkTalk customers can also sign up for a monthly subscription — rather than annual — to Sky Movies for £15 or Sky Sports for £30.

SHOULD YOU BUY A BUNDLE?

Since the box is free, many people with separate home phone, broadband and TV services should bundle to get YouView.
Bundles offer customers better value, especially if they don’t want to stump up £299 for the box by itself.

‘Getting a YouView box bundled with a broadband deal makes it more appealing than buying the kit on its own,’ says Ernest Doku, technology expert at comparison website Uswitch. ‘The proposition makes sense once you see the added benefits that a provider can offer.’

These benefits include discounts for bundling and dedicated apps with exclusive content.

WHAT ABOUT YOUVIEW'S RIVALS?

Sky and Virgin Media already offer digital TV packages to their customers with the option of catch-up and recording live TV. Sky’s comparable offering is its TV Entertainment, Broadband Everyday Lite and Talk Weekend package. It costs £21.50, plus £14.50 line rental, a month, with a delivery cost of £2.18 — a total of £38.18 a month. It gives customers speeds of up to 14Mb on 2Gb broadband per month, plus free weekend calls.

Customers have to sign up to a 12- month contract. Content can also be watched via Sky Go free on iPads, iPhones and laptops.
Virgin Media recently launched its Classic Collection to compete with YouView package. It bundles TV, broadband and phone services and costs £6 plus £13.90 line rental for the first six months and then £18 a month plus the line rental charge. It also has an £49.95 installation cost.
It gives customers speeds of up to 30Mb on unlimited broadband and free weekend calls.

Customers would have to sign up to an 18-month contract to get the deal.
Virgin’s equivalent to the box is its TiVo set-top box, which allows customers to watch, record and pause live TV. It also gives access to more than 35 apps, such as music streaming service Spotify and BBC iPlayer.

Standard Freeview boxes start from £20, Freeview+ (where you can record and rewind live TV) start at £99 and Freeview+HD prices start at £169. There is no monthly subscription charge. However, there are half the amount of TV channels available with YouView and even less choice in terms of pay-per-view content.

WILL EXTRA ONLINE USE HIKE MY BILL?

Double-check your broadband contract doesn’t have a data limit. Older broadband contracts didn’t allow for downloading entire films, which can use up as much as 3Gb. This eats into your monthly data allowance. Break this limit, and you will be charged hefty penalties.
If you’re a new YouView customer, the broadband contract offers unlimited data.